We used to be pretty into Halloween. I carved pumpkins, we’d have a fire out in front with a bunch of concrete skulls in it, spooky sounds, decorations and a fog machine that I made a chiller for the would keep the fog stuck to the ground. When we first started doing that, our neighborhood got a fair number of trick-or-treaters.
Maybe 15 years ago, a street several blocks away collectively decided to make their street a destination. 14 foot skeletons, inflatables, animatronics, 55 gallon drums of candy at each house, the city closes the street, they hire a band and thousands of kids. It became the black hole that all trick-or-treaters disappeared into. We stopped doing anything when the action dried up.
A couple of years ago, one of the parents posted a message on NextDoor, asking for donations for their candy supplies. I didn’t reply, but thought, “Fuck off. You want to consolidate Halloween onto your street, fine. I’m not subsidizing your self inflicted problems.”
